Each college football season, speculation runs rampant about what might happen if a team from a non-BCS conference goes undefeated. Will that team go to a BCS bowl game? Is there any chance it gets a shot at the national championship?
This year, the answers to those questions, as they pertain to Boise State (the only non-BCS team with a chance to crash the BCS party), are as follows: Probably, and absolutely not.
The Broncos most likely will go undefeated, which will be enough to put them in a BCS bowl game. But as far as playing the SEC or Big 12 champion in the BCS national championship game, Boise blew that slim chance on Thursday night ... when it won ... by only seven points.
When the end of the season rolls around, a victory is what will keep Boise State out of the title game. Another clear-cut example of how Football Bowl Subdivision college football is broken.
Scott Barrett will disagree, because the system in place has allowed his beloved Florida Gators to win two national championships in the past three years, and chances are, they'll play for a third this season against Texas.
I won't go into too much ranting about how college football needs a playoff. It would take the guesswork out of the polls and strength of schedule, etc., but not going to happen anytime soon
So what's a small-conference team to do? Schedule some non-conference games against good teams from BCS conferences. Boise State did that this year, and beat Oregon. And while that looks good this season, it's going to hurt them in years to come, because teams like Florida, Texas, USC and Alabama have little to gain from playing a team like Boise State, and they have everything to lose. So smaller programs are going to have a harder and harder time finding BCS conference teams willing to play.
Can you imagine this system in the NFL? It's ludicrous to even think that it might work to decide a champion in a 32-team league. Instead, it's used to decide a champion in a 120-team subdivision of college football.
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2 comments:
The only thing I'm going to say is this: Florida won two national titles because they were the best team in the country at the end of the season.
Now if you want a real injustice, you might want to mention the Big 11 conference and Ohio State. Just because a team goes through a major conference slate without a loss, it shouldn't automatically put them in a BCS title game.
You're right in that a playoff must be formed, but the powers that be want to make money. Sad, sad, sad, sad, sad.
When it comes to Boise State, the team that was good enough to play in the national championship game was the team that beat Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl a few years ago.
This team, and last year's 12-1 squad for that matter, aren't as good. But the team is living off that reputation and the non-BCS-school ESPN hype.
College football is all about what you did the year before to position yourself in the preseason polls (i.e. win your bowl game, return 3/4 of your starters along with a good coach, etc.). The preseason polls set up the season. So, a Boise team that was unranked the year it beat Oklahoma was underrated all year until the end. This year's team was overrated from the start. Even if they are just a touch overrated, which I think is all, they still are perceived to be better than they are.
But there are arguments for and against every team that is not Florida or Texas... I think everybody agrees those are the two best teams this year.
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